Field
This disclosure presents techniques related to 3D printing. More specifically, this disclosure presents techniques to partition 3D objects into smaller components so that each component can be printed by a 3D printer having limited printing volume.
Description of the Related Art
3D printers print three-dimensional objects and are analogous to conventional printers in that, for example, a 3D surface may be printed by applying layer after layer of a substrate until completing a desired 3D structure, much like conventional printers apply a layer of ink to paper. Various types of 3D printers have been designed, and these 3D printers use a variety of raw materials for printing.
One limitation of current 3D printers is printing volume, which limits the size of an object that can be printed using a given system. Objects that do not fit within the printing volume (e.g., objects that are too long or too large) either cannot be printed or need to be partitioned before being printed. One approach to printing objects that do not fit within a given printing volume is for a user to manually partition 3D models of those objects. The 3D printer then prints the components resulting from the manual partitioning. However, manual partitioning is often a laborious process which does not guarantee that resulting components can be assembled, that the partitioned components can be printed, or that the components, once printed and/or assembled, will be structurally sound. Similarly, while some approaches for automated partitioning have been developed, currently available techniques have various drawbacks, including, but not limited to, using too many cuts, ignoring object features, making poor use of printing volume, not considering printing components in different orientations, not guaranteeing that a structure can be printed and assembled after printing, and not ensuring that the structure will be structurally sound after printing and/or assembly.